Saving Coral Reefs
This B1 lesson teaches students about coral reefs and ocean conservation through video comprehension and environmental discussions. Students learn marine life vocabulary like species, bleaching, and resilient while exploring how climate change affects coral reefs. The lesson combines a Dubai-based conservation video with role play interviews and discussion activities about protecting ocean ecosystems.
Lesson overview
- Learn marine life vocabulary including coral reefs, species, algae, and bleaching terms
- Practice video comprehension skills with Coral Vita conservation project in Dubai
- Develop speaking confidence through role play interviews between journalists and scientists
- Discuss ocean conservation issues and climate change effects on underwater ecosystems
Student's Version (Light/Dark)
Teacher's Version (Answer Keys)
Printable Classroom Version (A4)
| Level | Vocabulary | Video Length | Lesson Time |
| B1 / Intermediate | 10 words | 3:59 min | 60 min |
Vocabulary
- grave danger
- preserve
- species
- algae
- wipe out
- bleaching
- resilient
- nutrition
Contents
- Lead-in
- Discussion
- Vocabulary match
- Vocabulary
- Video
- True or False
- Unscramble the sentences
- Speaking
- Role play
- Name 3
Start with the lead-in questions about ocean experiences and favorite sea animals. This gets B1 students talking before you introduce heavy topics like climate change. The brainstorming activity where students name things found in the sea works well as a quick vocab activation. Have them work in pairs and race to write ten items in two minutes.
The vocabulary matching and definition correction activities teach the core words students need for the video. Pay attention to the definition rewrites because B1 students often confuse marine life with freshwater life or think coral reefs are just rocks. After students fix the definitions, have them create example sentences using each term. The video is under four minutes but packs in a lot of information about coral reefs and conservation efforts. Play it twice. First time for general understanding, second time for the true/false and completion tasks.
The sentence unscrambling activity helps students notice sentence patterns they heard in the video. If students struggle, give them the first two words of each sentence. The discussion pictures show ocean pollution, bleaching, and conservation work. These visuals give B1 students something concrete to describe before sharing opinions about solutions.
End with the role play interview between a journalist and Coral Vita scientist. This works better than open discussion because it gives students clear roles and purposes. The journalist prepares questions while the scientist prepares answers about their conservation work. After each pair performs, have other students ask one follow-up question. The final “Name 3” game reviews ocean vocabulary and lets you check what stuck from the lesson.
